Dr. Luyanda Mpahlwa

DR. LUYANDA MPAHLWA

Founder and Director, Architecture & Design Network Cape Town

Dr. Luyanda Mpahlwa’s architecture is driven by the belief that cities should reflect the people they serve — accessible, inclusive, and designed with a deep sense of social purpose. Based in Cape Town, his career spans decades of advocacy for socially relevant design, from his incarceration on Robben Island in 1982 for his role in the anti-apartheid struggle to his influential position as Director of Architecture & Design Network. With a Master’s degree from Berlin, Luyanda has always sought to integrate African-inspired design and indigenous building practices into modern architectural discourse. His acclaimed projects, such as the Design Indaba Sandbag Low-Cost House completed in 2009 in Mitchells Plain, demonstrate that architecture can — and should — transform lives and communities for the better. Other notable projects include the South African Embassy in Berlin, Germany, the first Embassy of the new democratic South Africa, completed in 2001, and the Radisson RED hotel at the Silo District, completed in 2017. As an Adjunct Professor at UCT’s African Centre for Cities and former President of the South African Institute of Architects, he continues to champion architecture that speaks to identity, accessibility, and the complex rhythms of post-colonial urban landscapes.